Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva, Switzerland, December 13, 2011 / B3C newswire / - NovImmune announced today that Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), initiated a First-in-Human study with anti-IL-17 (NI-1401, RG7624), a fully human monoclonal antibody designed to specifically and selectively bind to the human IL-17 family of cytokines. The anti-IL-17 antibody was generated at NovImmune and licensed to Genentech in July 2010. The initiation of the Phase I clinical trial triggers a milestone payment from Genentech of an undisclosed amount.

Jack Barbut, CEO, commented "With the compound entering man, NovImmune is gratified to see Genentech’s continued commitment to the anti-IL-17 program. This news creates an additional milestone as this is the fifth NovImmune therapeutic antibody to enter clinical development; a significant achievement for a small biotech company."

About NovImmune SANovImmune SA (‘NovImmune’) is a drug discovery and development company with a focus on therapeutic mAbs for inflammatory diseases and immune-related disorders. NovImmune has generated to date seven proprietary mAbs. The pipeline is a balance of preclinical and clinical compounds with a mix of both clinically validated as well as novel targets. Each of these portfolio products has the potential to become a medicine for multiple medical conditions due to the overlapping mechanism of action underlying these types of diseases. Four compounds are at this time in clinical development, with two already in Phase II.

In addition, NovImmune has developed a proprietary platform for the generation of fully human mono-, bi-- and panspecific antibodies including the κλ body which is a bispecific indistinguishable from an IgG.